To-Do List-itis

The last postcard in our campaign. It isn’t really about marketing. But if you’ll allow me, it’s about more than business. In his classic documentary, “Running Out of Time,” Robert Krulwich explores “The paradox of modern life … that we have more labor-saving devices but less free time.” That “in Japan, karoshi (“death from overwork”) is accepted as a valid cause of fatalities among middle-aged men” and the irony that the people in wealthiest nation on earth take two weeks of vacation, “contrasted with those in Europe, where 5-6 weeks of vacation per year are common.”

It’s about a philosophy. As a cancer survivor, as a survivor of sliding off I-94 at 70mph into a snow-filled ditch with my daughter, as a survivor of the 60’s, recessions, depressions, orphaned and grandfathered, I believe life is precious and short. I believe we are lucky to work in the creative arts – a field of great mirth and joy – with co-workers and clients who smile (you can even sign up for our humorgram!). We, at Sinard, try to bring some of that joy to every project, every day.

And so, while it is a false promise to suggest that your vacation time will increase, your blood pressure will go down and you’ll have more free time if you work with us, perhaps one of these things will happen, if just a little. At very least, you’ll know your to-do list will be in the trusted hands of world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists!

For more about our newly-concluded “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookitis and the rest, go to www.sinard.com/treatment.

This is certainly true of our latest campaign – for ourselves. Our “Fear of” campaign deals with maladies called “Blogophobia,” etc.,  and exhorts treatment by “the worlds only Licensed Social Media Therapists” – us! We hope our prospects find it clever, amusing and relevant, as we’ve directed it squarely at the critical pain-points we’ve worked to overcome for our clients; those pain-points being:

▪ improper use (or absence) of social media, including blogs, Facebook, Facebook Places, Foursquare, Twitter, etc.

▪ inappropriate treatment and use of video

▪ poor translation of sales materials from print to web and vice-versa

▪ ineffective or just plain dull websites, lacking a “you” focus or a sales funnel

Over the course of the next six weeks we’ll post companion pieces to the campaign, elaborating on these pain points with examples and advice that we hope might get you thinking about your own marketing strengths and weaknesses. And we promise, you won’t feel a thing…

Part One: Blogophobia & Facebookchondria

Is your social media marketing working? Is it on a horse? Old Spice, using “two new TV spots, and the online response videos, [sent sales] up a whooping 107%” (read the article here). Best Buy and Target use Twitter and Facebook for brand loyalty and coupon outlets.

But what if you’re not a Fortune 500 company or not in B2C? What if you’re a small retailer or Business-to-Business company? The trick is which social media? For whom? How does it tie in to your larger marketing plan?

For example, Twitter is an absolute no-brainer for every restaurant on earth that has regulars and specials. It’s certainly helped us track down the food carts that have premiered in downtown Minneapolis this summer.

And B2B? We are extremely proud of one of our own success stories: our work for Creative Water Solutions. We created a blog (which they maintain) that allows them to demonstrate their expertise in spa and pool water science at a level of detail that a traditional campaign could never reach. Combined with a multiple channel marketing push and excellent PR, “WaterBlogged” established CWS as the go-to experts for scientific information in their field (a field that’s sorely lacking in good science). The blog has been so successful that their competitors are trying to ape their jargon and keywords. Fortunately for CWS, it’s too late for the competition – they are well on their way to becoming North America’s most trusted source for accurate information in their category.

And so if you think you might have a Social Media Malady, please share them with us, After all, as “the world’s only Licensed Social Media Therapists” J, it is our duty to keep our public informed! So we’ll be examining several Media Maladies during our campaign, especially over the next few weeks. In the meantime, the comments section is open, and the doctor is in…

For more about the “Fear of” campaign, featuring Blogophobia, Facebookchondria and more (appearing weekly 9/27 – 11//10) go to www.sinard.com/treatment.

Thinking outside the box means thinking outside traditional normatives and mores. But normatives and mores are the building blocks for shared communication. They are our way of thinking and behaving. By living inside the borders (created by the the famous “nine dots” puzzle) we are safe and comfortable. To go beyond their borders means “art.” No more, no less. And I include scientific discovery and prophesy in that realm.*

Connect all the dots using four lines, without lifting the pen off the paper. Hint: Think outside the box.

In other words, truly thinking outside the box means Picasso, John Cage, Trio-X, and every 100th student at MIT and CalArts. Being outside the box is strange, unusual, weird, uncanny, awful, smelly, messy and unique. It can also be fantastic, glorious, transcendent – and quite scary and lonely. We know. We’ve been there.**

What most trainers and marketers usually really want is derivative thinking.

Derivatives are not merely instruments of unethical financial behavior. They are based on well-known social conventions, such as TV shows. When BMW commissioned a video for webcast, it is a derivative of broadcast moved to the new medium. Placing videos on YouTube is a synthesis of TV and Americans Funniest Home Movies. These ideas are new, refreshing, fun and not outside the box.

Which is why advertisers long-ago coined the term “edgy,” with, perhaps, an unconscious nod to “the box.” Being “on the edge” can be a metaphor for many potential changes – from emotionally explosive to physical danger. But “edgy” is most often used in ad lingo to describe, I submit, that border between derivative and the truly unique – that which is “outside the box.”

The truly unique

Why should you care? The truly unique is ground-breaking; it evokes an emotional response, sometimes a physical reaction, and occasionally provokes actual thought. Thought, of course, is often unwelcome, and is unnecessary in the Attention stage of adoption-diffusion and advertising. But if the emotion is strong enough – especially if it is positive – it can push a clients brand into instant recognition, and prospects scurrying to discover more.

Being outside the box isn’t for everyone, and deciding how far to go outside the box is fraught with second-guessing. So if you’re thinking of going there, call us for a tour. It’s where we work on many days, before we drive home in our solar powered cars to our cubist homes and minimalist pets.
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*Great authors on the subject include C.P. Snow and Dr. Rudolf Arnheim.

*Sinard has been a consistent early adapter of new – outrageously new, and often unique – technology and art. We were amongst the first to use a new technology called videography in 1970; “interactive” in 1984; digital video editing in 1987; Sandin Image processing in 1990, and Portable Domes in 1997. Have you seen our interactive surfaces and environmental objects?